Colossians 3:23-24
Whatever you do, work heartily, […] You are serving the Lord Christ.
It was a misty morning with the kind of quiet that drapes over you like a blanket. Water dripped from leaves onto saturated soil as I munched on a snack bar for breakfast. I had just dedicated the rest of my life to serving others and I knew deep inside that everything was about to change for me. In the past, I had struggled with commitment and with sticking to the path I had chosen. I changed jobs and where I lived quite frequently. However, for the last several months I had been following a single trail. I had walked hundreds of miles and I had done so in every condition imaginable. Drenching rain, mud up to my ankles, snow that did its best to hide the trail, sweltering summer sun, mosquitos as big as a small truck (only a slight exaggeration). When hiking, you only have two options: keep going or stop.
If you keep going, it can be difficult but it is also very rewarding and fulfilling. Every day you experience a new sight. A new gorgeous sky over open meadows or the dark trunks of an old forest. Lightning carressing the sky and the crash of raindrops beating against your tent. The flickering heat of your small campfire as you warm a bowl of water for oatmeal. A kind word of encouragement from a trail friend when you meet at the road crossing.
If you stop, nothing changes. You go back to whatever life you had before and the doldrum existence of fitting yourself into a spot you don’t belong. It’s like trying to squeeze one too many hamburgers on a grill and wondering why they don’t cook evenly.
I smiled as I stuffed the wrapper into my trash bag and hoisted my pack onto my back. I would keep going. Not just on the trail where I currently walked but towards the call of God. “Here I am,” I spoke softly into the mist and took that next step to becoming a missionary pilot and mechanic.